ÌìÃÀ´«Ã½¹ÙÍø

The ÌìÃÀ´«Ã½¹ÙÍø swimming and diving team closed out the 2017 Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference Championship with another strong showing by both the men and women on Saturday evening at the Burt Flickinger Athletic Center at Erie Community College.

On the fourth day of action, the ÌìÃÀ´«Ã½¹ÙÍø men set two new MAAC records and the women took home two first-place finishes and five other top-three results as well.

The Bronc dynasty continued on the men’s side as ÌìÃÀ´«Ã½¹ÙÍø claimed its sixth straight MAAC Championship with 840.5 total points, while the ÌìÃÀ´«Ã½¹ÙÍø women finished in second place with 616 points. It marked the 15th time since 1998 that the women have finished in second. 

Marist won the overall women’s crown with 810 points through 41 events, while the Broncs, Canisius (581 points), Iona (469 points) and Niagara (328 points) rounded out the top-five.

ÌìÃÀ´«Ã½¹ÙÍø had a large margin of victory on the men’s side as second-place Marist had 635 points. Rounding out the top-five for the men were Bryant (469.5 points), Canisius (420 points) and Iona (400.5 points).

The four-day event ran Feb. 8-11.

Zack Molloy (Toms River, NJ/Toms River HS North) was named the MAAC Most Outstanding Swimmer of the Meet for the second year in a row thanks to braking two MAAC records on Saturday afternoon. He shattered the conference-best in the 100 free with a time of 43.47 to take gold and he was also part of the 400 free relay quartet that took first and broke the league mark to close out the evening.

Molloy was not the only Bronc to earn a major award at the end of the evening as Head Coach Steve Fletcher was tabbed as the MAAC Men’s Swimming Coach of the Year. A trio of freshman also picked up accolades as Justin Carey (Landenberg, PA/Avon Grove) and Natalie Carter (Yucaipa, CA/Riverside City/Yucaipa) were both honored as the MAAC Men’s and Women’s Rookie Swimmer of the Meet. Diver Meg Tomayko (Murfreesboro, TN/Siegel) was named the MAAC Women’s Diving Rookie of the Meet.

ÌìÃÀ´«Ã½¹ÙÍø had four swimmers finish in the top-eight in the 100 free as sophomore Vincent Gibbons (North Brunswick, NJ/North Brunswick) finished in second behind Molloy at 45.06, while two other Broncs finished in seventh and eighth to showcase the team’s depth.

Senior Sam Cramer (Escondido, CA/San Pasqual) started the final day of the championships on a high note, winning the 1650 free with a time of 15:27.72, which was over eight seconds faster than the second-place finisher. ÌìÃÀ´«Ã½¹ÙÍø also saw senior Michael Regan (Flower Mound, TX/Flower Mound) come in seventh in the event.

Carey continued to impress during his first year on campus, finishing in first-place in the 200 back with a time of 1:48.60. Hot on his tails was teammate Lucas Musselman (Timonium, MD/Loyola Blakefield), who finished in second with a time of 1:48.92 to earn 17 points for ÌìÃÀ´«Ã½¹ÙÍø.

Freshman Cole May (Columbia, MD/Oakland Mills) had a memorable first trip to league championship, winning the 200 fly with a time of 1:49.66.

To close out the event, ÌìÃÀ´«Ã½¹ÙÍø put an exclamation point on the weekend by setting a new MAAC record in the 400 free relay. The quartet of senior William Molloy (Toms River, NJ/Toms River HS North), classmate Matthan-Matthew Martir (Severn, MD/Old Mill), Gibbons and Zack Molloy finished with a time of 2:59.18, which was over four seconds better than second-place Marist.

For the women, freshman Casey Wrabley (Forest, VA/Jefferson Forest) won the 200 fly with a time of 2:07.88 to earn ÌìÃÀ´«Ã½¹ÙÍø 20 points. Also for the Broncs in the race, junior Hannah Bayer (Forest Hill, MD/Bel Air) came in eighth-place to register 11 points.

Carter finished in the first in the 200 back with a time of 2:04.66. The Broncs also saw student-athletes finish in seventh in the eighth in the 200 back. 

In the 100 free, senior Ariana Palmer (Burlington, NJ/Burlington Township) took home a third-place result, touching the end wall with a mark of 52.49. The ÌìÃÀ´«Ã½¹ÙÍø women had a strong race in the 200 breaststroke, with junior Julianna Runk (Baltimore, MD/Perry Hall) and classmate Tara Maniace (Neptune, NJ/Neptune) finishing in second and third-place, respectively. Runk had a time of 2:25.19 and just edged out Stalnaker by .01 seconds.

In the final for the women’s 1M diving, the Broncs saw both of their divers finish in the top-five. Sophomore Breanne Hatter (Lincroft, NJ/Middletown HS South) came in third with a score of 241.40, while Tomayko ended in fifth-place with a score of 204.90.

In the final event of the day, the women took home third in the 400 free relay as the quartet of Palmer, Wrabley, Carter and freshman Olivia Iswalt (Reading, PA/Berks Catholic) finished with a time of 3:32.63.

ÌìÃÀ´«Ã½¹ÙÍø returns to the pool on March 3-5, traveling to Annapolis, Md., to compete in the ECAC Championships hosted by Navy.